Wednesday, August 10, 2016

The relationship between bloggers and their readers is in a period of manifest change. Do you have a loyal audience or are you depending on traffic arriving via Google or Bing? When they're on your site do they stay or bounce away? Readers are your most prized asset!

Make your content unique, insightful and rewarding - addictive - so that it turns chance visitors into regular readers. Spend time researching and promoting your work. Don't be one of those bloggers who ignore reader concerns. If someone takes the time to leave a comment or seeks you out via your 'about' page (every blog should have a way readers can contact the author) you can bet that if you tactfully engage with that individual, you will have a reader/friend/follower for life! Take it a step further: What do they like about what I do and how I do it? What do they want done differently? What do they turn to other blogs for?

Younger readers yearn for a dynamic relationship with the writer that feels more like a conversation than a "take it or leave it" one-sided point-of-view. Float and be flexible!

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

A solid social media calendar tells you what’s coming up, which
events are important, and what to expect from past months and years.
These pieces of information ensure that when unexpected circumstances
pop up, you’re never unprepared.

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

I happened across a rather interesting blog article by one David Risley entitled "A Quarterly Editorial Calendar Template (And How To Use It)" - intended for die-hard bloggers or those blogkeepers who may have other daily responsibilities that mandate they squeeze every drop of usefulness out of any blogging time they might have.

Like most folks who come across articles like these, the best way to see if an idea like this will work for me is to try it out. Although the author shares his idea, he does not share (unless you are willing to PAY for it) a ready-to-roll template. There always seems to be a "catch" with these "blog gurus." It always involves money.

Now, there is nothing wrong with asking for money when you perform a service. I charge for my blog critiques. But I am open about it, and don't butter up my reader only to let them down in the end by demanding payment. Okay, "demanding" might be a harsh word - let's swap that out with "requiring."